Dressed in white ceremonial dress, governors, regents, mayors and their deputies took their oaths on Thursday at the Presidential Palace in Central Jakarta, marking the beginning of the work of new regional administrations for the next five years.

Speaking at Thursday’s swearing-in ceremony, Prabowo congratulated the newly inaugurated regional leaders and emphasized the importance of pledging their loyalty to the people, regardless of the support they receive from various political parties.

"I would like to remind you, on behalf of this country, that you were elected, you are servants of the people. You must defend the interests of our people. You must fight to improve their lives. That is our duty,” Prabowo said.

“Although we may come from different parties, religions or tribes, we were born into a large family of Nusantara, the Republic of Indonesia […] We are different, but we are one," the President said.

Thursday’s event marks the first time in the country’s post-Reform era history that a president swore in hundreds of governors, regents, mayors and their deputies in a mass ceremony, moving away from the past practice of having regents and mayors sworn in by their respective governors.

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